Girl, one, fighting for life after doctors refused to take severe rash seriously

WARNING: DISTRESSING IMAGES: Helena Cristina reportedly had a reaction to the medication she was taking to stop her seizures. She is now in an Intensive Care Unit intubated on a breathing device

A one-year-old girl is fighting for her life after doctors repeatedly refused to take a severe rash seriously, her family said.

Little Helena Cristina reportedly had a reaction to the medication she was taking to stop her seizures.

Her face and body are now completely covered in what was a rash, but now looks like severe burns.

The toddler’s dad said he had spent weeks trying to convince the doctors to treat the rash seriously.

However, he was allegedly told not to worry as medics believed it was either a virus or a dermatological condition that would go away with time.

Helena is now being cared for at a hospital in the municipality of Anapolis in the Brazilian state of Goias.

The toddler is in an Intensive Care Unit intubated on a breathing device as she can no longer breathe on her own.

Her dad Hugo Cristiano Penno da Silva told the local news site G1: “They decided to intubate her so she wouldn’t suffer too much trying to breathe.

“They think that the anticonvulsants medications she was prescribed caused the reaction.”

He added: “She is waiting to be seen by a surgeon who will carry out further examinations of the burn-like rashes that now cover most of her body.”

Doctors have not yet released information on the specific medication the toddler took other than the fact that it was prescribed to stop her from having seizures.

Hugo told G1 that Helena began to have seizures when she was five months old and after examinations by several neurologists she was prescribed anticonvulsants.

According to Hugo, it was after three weeks of taking the medication that she first developed the rashes.

The toddler’s dad said that it took a long time to get a diagnosis as several doctors turned them away saying Helena was merely suffering from a virus that would pass naturally.

Her condition did not improve and the doctors diagnosed the one-year-old with rosacea which is a long-term skin condition that usually affects adults and results in red itchy skin on the nose, cheeks and forehead.

The doctors prescribed the girl antibiotics for the skin condition, but it continued to get worse as the rash became more severe and spread across her body.

Only after weeks of back and forth with the doctors, they linked the skin condition to a reaction to the anti-convulsant medication.

Hugo said: “It’s very difficult to not be terrified when seeing something like this happen to your own daughter, but I am hopeful that the doctors will be able to help her recover.”